13D ago
HOT
9 sources
A long‑observed balance in how much light the Northern and Southern hemispheres reflect is now diverging: both are darkening, but the Northern Hemisphere is darkening faster. Using 24 years of CERES satellite data, NASA’s Norman Loeb and colleagues show the shift challenges the idea that cloud dynamics keep hemispheric albedo roughly equal.
— A persistent change in planetary reflectivity—and its hemispheric asymmetry—affects Earth’s energy budget and challenges assumptions in climate models that guide policy.
Sources: Earth Is Getting Darker, Literally, and Scientists Are Trying To Find Out Why, Almost all of the world’s mammal biomass is humans and livestock, UK 'Not in Favor' of Dimming the Sun (+6 more)
14D ago
1 sources
A peer‑reviewed geophysical model suggests some ocean worlds (Europa specifically) may lack sufficient seafloor tectonic and hydrothermal activity to supply the chemical energy life needs, even when liquid water is abundant. If correct, the finding downgrades the likelihood of life on Europa and reorients where space agencies should prioritize landed life‑detection missions.
— This reframes planetary life‑search strategy—from simply 'find water' to requiring demonstrable energy flux—and will influence mission design, budget priorities, planetary‑protection rules, and public expectations about finding extraterrestrial life.
Sources: Why Europa Might Not Have Life After All
15D ago
1 sources
Detectable Milankovitch eccentricity cycles leave a sedimentary fingerprint in lake‑bed Jurassic mudstones: high eccentricity produces warmer, wetter conditions and more organic deposition, while low eccentricity produces drier intervals with less organic matter. Mapping these astro‑climatic signals in continental basins can guide where thick, petroleum‑rich shale horizons are concentrated.
— If robust, this gives energy firms and governments a new, science‑based tool for locating onshore shale resources and reframes some resource geopolitics as partly driven by orbital‑scale climate forcing.
Sources: How Jupiter and Saturn Dictate Earth’s Oil Deposits